For Nell Prentice, life is good. She has her satisfying if not always remunerative work as a Boston private investigator, the pleasure she takes in the ancient classics, her old friend Martha and new love Tom, and her good-natured cat Woody. The troubles and even tragedy that have marked her life are receding further and further into the past. But then the past catches up with Nell, in the form of a wholly unexpected gift that brings both joy and danger. To confront that danger, Nell must go on a journey that will stir old ghosts and awaken a mystery that has lain disturbingly unsolved for years. At the end of Nell's quest, a moral dilemma pits her conscience against her need to protect those she considers family. This is Nell's most personal case ever. She must travel deeply and painfully into the past in order to secure the future for herself and those she loves.